Page 23 of Daniel
Remaining still, I let Prairie take a good look. It was strange to simply allow a woman to stare – her eyes raking over every hard-earned muscle. Her bottom lip quivered slightly.
“What is it, baby?”
“I just…wow. You’re incredibly fit.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “I lift a lot of heavy wood. Then I have to spend some time in the gym, so that I’m strong enough to lift heavier wood next time.”
Her fingers ran lightly up and down my bicep. “Is there a gym in Holly Valley? Maybe I should go.”
Gripping her hip in my hand, I squeezed her silky soft skin, troubled at the note I thought I had heard creep into her voice.
“There’s a small gym, but don’t think for a second that you need to work out unless you want to, baby. I mean, do whatever makes you happy, of course. I think they have yoga and dance classes if you want to have fun and make some new friends. But please don’t think for one second that I would want you to change a single inch of this body. It’s perfect just as it is.”
Prairie didn’t look like she believed me, so I did the only thing I could. I kissed her while pouring every drop of love and lust from my heart and into my lips.
She had to feel how much I felt for her. She had to feel that I was already in love with her.
As I felt her soft sigh against my lips, I had to hope that she was feeling the same way.
14
PRAIRIE
Maybe I should have let the matter drop, but I couldn’t resist asking. “You don’t think that people will expect you to be dating a certain kind of girl? With a certain...look?”
I was surprised to see genuine pain in Daniel’s eyes. “I don’t give a royal rat’s ass about what other people expect,” he said. “But more than that, baby, you’re breathtaking. I guess I didn’t explain properly how thrilled I was to be at the ball last night with the most gorgeous woman in the room.”
Normally I would have smirked at a man laying it on so thick. But he wasn’t. It was perfectly clear in those intense brown eyes.
He propped himself up on his elbow, and I was momentarily distracted by his thick bicep, and the cord of muscle along his neck. “Prairie, you’re a goddess. I want to worship you. May I?”
I had no idea what he meant, but he seemed so sincere. “Um, sure?”
Daniel rolled me gently onto my back, kissing me with that deep, passionate energy that was making my head spin. There was no way that he could possibly be in love with me. Yet every time he kissed me, it felt like he was.
It was wild, but I felt the same for him. I’d always tried to trust my feelings, and listen to whatever my inner voice was saying. Right now it wasn’t the usual whisper, it was a scream.
Daniel loved me.
The way his hands drifted over my skin made me feel completely treasured. Yet his touch was also possessive.
Maybe it was strange, but I was touched that he had seemed so jealous about my friend Peter. It felt like Daniel wanted me just to himself. As if I were someone truly special to him.
For the first time in my life, I wondered if that could be even partly true.
I didn’t want to lose my head and get caught up in this crazy “perfect Christmas” energy. But my body and my heart kicked my brain out of the way.
Daniel buried his face in my breasts, licking and sucking until it felt like my entire body was flushed. I had no idea how wonderful it felt to have my nipples sucked. It was wildly erotic, and the way he teased me by scraping his teeth across my skin made me feel like I was falling under his spell.
Just as I thought it wasn’t possible to feel any more pleasure, Daniel kissed a path down my stomach, then spread my thighs.
“Is this all right, baby?”
I nodded as he slipped off my panties, and I wondered if I should be embarrassed at how wet I was already.
“Jesus, beautiful,” he practically growled. “I can’t believe this pretty little pussy is all for me.”
Good grief – even his tongue was strong. He explored all around, dipping his tongue along every fold, then lapping straight through my crease.
